Chongqing Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Scand J Immunol. 2011 Aug;74(2):176-85. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2011.02546.x.
Nasal polyposis (NP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal cavity and sinuses that is regulated by T lymphocyte subsets. Imbalance of Th17/Treg has been considered critical in the development of inflammation and atopic reactions. To assess whether the balance of Th17/Treg is disrupted in patients with NP, we evaluated the distribution of Th17 and Treg cells among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in atopic patients with NP, non-atopic patients with NP and controls. We then determined mRNA levels of RORc and Foxp3 and protein levels of IL-17, TGF-β and IL-10 in polyp tissue among the three groups. Finally, we investigated the correlation between Th17-, Treg- and Th1-, Th2-related cytokines (INF-γ, IL-4, IL-5). The results demonstrated that both atopic and non-atopic patients with NP revealed significantly increased Th17 proportion and decreased Treg proportion in PBMCs, as well as significantly increased RORc and IL-17 levels and decreased Foxp3 and TGF-β levels in polyp tissue. Furthermore, these differences were significant between atopic and non-atopic groups. The frequency of Treg in PBMCs was found to be negatively correlated with Th1 and Th2 cytokines in polyps. These results indicated that an impaired balance of Th17/Treg existed in patients with NP and was more severe in atopic patients, suggesting that the imbalance of Treg/Th17 may play an important role in the development of NP and that atopy may aggravate NP by promoting the imbalance of Th17/Treg.
鼻息肉（NP）是一种鼻腔和鼻窦的慢性炎症性疾病，由 T 淋巴细胞亚群调节。Th17/Treg 的失衡被认为在炎症和特应性反应的发展中至关重要。为了评估 NP 患者的 Th17/Treg 是否失衡，我们评估了 NP 伴特应性患者、NP 不伴特应性患者和对照组外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中 Th17 和 Treg 细胞的分布。然后，我们测定了三组患者息肉组织中 RORc 和 Foxp3 的 mRNA 水平以及 IL-17、TGF-β 和 IL-10 的蛋白水平。最后，我们研究了 Th17、Treg 与 Th1、Th2 相关细胞因子（INF-γ、IL-4、IL-5）之间的相关性。结果表明，NP 伴特应性和不伴特应性患者的 PBMC 中 Th17 比例显著增加，Treg 比例显著降低，息肉组织中 RORc 和 IL-17 水平显著升高，Foxp3 和 TGF-β 水平显著降低。此外，特应性和非特应性组之间存在显著差异。PBMC 中 Treg 的频率与息肉中的 Th1 和 Th2 细胞因子呈负相关。这些结果表明，NP 患者存在 Th17/Treg 失衡，特应性患者更为严重，提示 Treg/Th17 失衡可能在 NP 的发展中起重要作用，特应性可能通过促进 Th17/Treg 失衡而加重 NP。
